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All Things Considered / The Why

There's more to every story if you take the time to tell it. The Why gets to the "why" behind an issue that matters in your community, diving deep to give you a fuller view – and an illuminating listening experience.

N.J. lawmaker wants to limit colleagues on bill proposals

A New Jersey lawmaker fed up with what he calls “silly” legislation that has no chance of passage has proposed limiting the number of bills his colleagues can introduce during each two-year session.

The measure from Assemblyman Anthony Bucco, R- Morris, calls for limiting senators to sponsoring 25 bills or resolutions, while Assembly members would be restricted to 15. Bucco is also pushing for a constitutional amendment that would guarantee those limited number of bills would get a legislative hearing.

“It would force both the majority and minority party to work together to get bills crafted that would eventually get signed into law,” he said.

Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, who has introduced more than 300 bills this session, said Monday she believes that is part of her job.

“Limiting the number of bills a legislator can introduce would certainly stifle the legislative process and make it harder for legislators to respond to the needs of our constituents,” said Huttle, D-Bergen.

The sheer number of bills introduced during any given session makes it unlikely that the majority of them will be heard, Bucco argued,

“There’s got to a way to make this process more effective, more efficient, and this a way I think we can go about doing that,” he said.